Province of Maryland

The Province of Maryland was an English and British colony in North America that existed from 1632 to 1776, with St. Mary's City serving as its capital from 1632 to 1695 and Annapolis serving as its capital from 1695 to 1776. In 1632, King Charles I of England granted his Catholic friend Cecil Calvert, 2nd Baron Baltimore six and a half million acres in the northern Chesapeake region in exchange for a rent of two Indian arrowheads a year. Lord Baltimore intended to create a refuge for Catholics, who suffered severe discrimination in England, and 150 settlers were carried over to the colony on the Ark and Dove, arriving on 25 March 1634. The new colony was named for Henrietta Maria of France, the wife of King Charles I. However, the colony's population grew very slowly for the next twenty years, and most settlers were Protestants. The religious turmoil of the English Civil War led to friction between the wealthy and prominent Catholics and the Protestant majority, and Catholics would continue to exert influence for decades. Immigration increased during the 1660s, and the colony became similar to the Colony of Virginia, especially due to their shared devotion to tobacco. In 1689, following the Glorious Revolution, Lord Baltimore was overthrown by John Coode, but Charles Calvert, 5th Baron Baltimore regained power for his family in 1715. On 4 July 1776, Maryland signed the US Declaration of Independence and became a part of the new United States.